Musar do Hioba 28:28

It is written in the Torah, "And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God?" (Deut. 10:12). And it is writen, "You must revere the Lord your God" (ibid., 10:20). And it is written, "And the fear of the Lord which is His treasure" (Is. 33:6). And they said (Shabbath 31b, and see Berakoth 33b), "The Holy One has nought in His world save for the awe of Heaven," as it is written, "And unto man he said, "Behold (hen), the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom" (Job 28:28). (The fear of the Lord is unique in God's affections — Rashi, (ad. loc.) The Hebrew word hen can be interpreted to mean "one" for in Greek they pronounce the word "one" as "hen."

In Leviticus, where G–d exhorts us to become holy, such an achievement is in our power because it is the result of our actions, the result of free choice given to man. Rabbi Shimon says: "Did you think כמוני that you could be like Me?" Here Rabbi Shimon does not think that the thought of becoming equal to G–d is so strange; this is why he does not add the word אתמהא. Man might have compared his own freedom of choice to G–d's freedom of choice; in that respect he might have considered himself as on a par with G–d, who has no one who interferes with His freedom to carry out His designs. After all our Rabbis have assured us that הכל בידי שמים חוץ מיראת שמים, "Everything is within the domain of Heaven except the fear of Heaven" (Berachot 33b). We are told in Shabbat 31b, in the name of Rabbi Yochanan, that "the only thing G–d has in His world is the fear of Heaven." Rabbi Yochanan bases himself on Deuteronomy 10,12: "And now, what does the Lord G–d ask of you? Only to fear the Lord your G–d, to walk in His ways." We also have a verse in Job 28, 28: ויאמר לאדם הן יראת ה' חכמה, וסור מרע בינה. He said to man,: "Fear of the Lord is wisdom; to shun evil is understanding." The word הן in Greek means "one."